closed conduit electric railway



2 sheets-Sheen 1. P. LUCAS. ULOSED CONDUIT ELECTRIC RAILWAY.

. Patented May 14, 1895. .2y/f

(No Model.)

rllll (No Model.) 2 sheets-sheet 2. 'P, LUCAS.

' CLOSED GONDUIT ELBGTRIG RAILWAY. k

No. 539,184. Patented May 14,-1895.

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NrTED STATES PATENT .Finca PAUL LUCAS, on BERLIN, GERMANY.

' cLosl-:D-ooNDUIT ELEcrRlo RAILWAY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 539,184, dated May 14, 1895.

Application filed June 23, 1894:. Serial No. 515,666. (No model.) Patented in Belgium March 12, 1894, No. 108,976, and in Germany .Tune 15,18931110. 76,141.v

To @ZZ whom t may concern.-

Be it known that I, PAUL LUCAS, engineer, a subject of the King of Prussia, German Emperor, and a resident of 9 Gben Street, Berlin,

` 1V., in the Kingdom of Prussia, German Ernpire, have invented certain new and useful improvements in apparatus for supplying or transmitting the electric current from subterranean electric tracks, lines, conduits, or trenches, of which the following is a specication.

This invention has been patented to me in Belgium under date of March 12, 1894, No. 108,976, and in Germany under date of .lune 15, 1893, No. 76,141.

I have illustrated the invention in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a cross-section of a road-bed, showing the parts in normal position'. Fig. 1a is a detail showing the depress'ible bar. Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1, showing the vertical upon the depressible bar. detailof the depressible bar in the position shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 after the wheel has passed from the depressible bar. Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are detail views of the casing containing the conductor and connector mechanism. Fig. 7 is a plan view of the apparatus.v Fig. 8 is a conventional view showing the wheels of a truck with the contact-strip.

The apparatus shown in Figs. 1 to 8 of the drawings for transmitting the electric current from subterranean electricY conduits, lines or tracks, operates safely and in all conditions of weather without any loss of current even should the apparatus designed for forming the contact be iilled with water and even in cases in which the water is one per cent. and over above the ground. This apparatus enables the carriages to be moved forward and backward according as required and to pass readily over crossings.

The apparatus consists of a current supplying device or transmitter and of a receiver. The latter is placed below the vehicles and consists of an insulated horizontal metallic bartFigs. 2, 2a, 3 and 8 which is about twentytive per cent. wide and is bent up (in the proportion of one to ve) at a distance of about twenty per cent. behind the axle of the fore- Fig. 2a is a v most wheel. The transmitter is placed between the rails at intervals of from four to eight meters and is contained in a chamber g of rectangular shape in plan and the upper surface of which is level with the roadway (see Fig. 7), and it is arranged as follows:ln one of the rails (of Haarmans section) is placed at a distance of tive millimeters below its upper edge a slide bar or rail o; having a length of eighty per cent. and which can be depressed a depth of twenty-five per cent. The stops s prevent this bar from being depressed or raised any farther. The depressible rail d bears centrally upon the lever b consisting for the greatest part of an E-iron (see Fig. 1) and divided by the fulcrum c in the proportion of one to three. The lever h is connected with the tube or sleeve R turning upon the pointd and formed of the parts e', e2 and c3. This' tube or cylinder carries in its tubular bore c the projection d' of the round plate p insulated against e and electrically connected with the contact chamber g' by a Iiexible cable lc which is covered with water tight india rubber. The part c2 is fixed at the top. It may also project downwardly only, when the connecting piece f', f2 is loosened, that is to say, when f2 is pulled to the left. .The lever arm e3 is of T-shape at its upper end as shown in Fig. 6, and the arms of the T are arranged to ride over shoulders t in the part t' secured to the cover in such manner that it can be hooked in when raised and turned to the left as hereinafter described. The contact chamber is a closed and water tight receptacle Vwherein are arranged two insulated metallic blocks g and g2 likewise insulated relatively one to the other, and one of which, the block g', is electrically connected with the cable k and thereby with the plate p while the other block issimilarly connected with the main cable which conveys the electric current;

These two metal blocks are electrically connected together by thrusting the contact arm f4 between them. This arm is actuated by the movement of the lever b. c5 is a spring.

The apparatus operates as follows: Fig. 1 of the drawings shows the apparatus at rest. When the carriage passes over theapparatus or distributor the front wheel comes in contact, by means of its flange thirty milli- ICO meters high, with the depressible rail a, the latter is depressed down to its lowest depth and raises the lever fulcrumed at c and with it thetube or cylinder connected thereto. At the same time the contact arm f 4 is connected through the action of f and f2 with the metallic blocks g', g2. The apparatus assumes now the position shown in Fig. 2, While the lever e2 is only held by the spring e5. The turning of the lever f 2, f B, f4, causes the plate p to be connected with the main cable. As the carriage rolls on the inclined part ot' the receiver t depresses the plate p a distance of two per cent. and the lever arm e3 which has entered the part i is thrown to the left until its arms or projections engage with the shoulders t" and thus the plate p is pressed against the receiver t Fig. 3 as long as the receiver t is directly over the plate. After the carriage is gone, the depressible rail a and the whole mechanism return in their original position of the rest as shown in Fig. l. The lever f', f2, which appears unnecessary, only fulfills its object when the plate p is fixed by frost for instance and it requires the whole power ot' the depressing wheel to raise the plate. The grooves r, r, receive the permeating rain water and convey it away.

This apparatus is particularly suitable for carriages built on bogies in which the support or bearing of the outer wheels is Very large so that the receiver can have a great length. Ordinary carriages may be tted with special front wheels, or the receiver must be raised at a or b (Fig. 8) according as the carriages move to the right or to the left.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a closed conduit system for electric railways, the combination of the continuous closed casing, having stationary contacts arranged at intervals, the conductor located in said casing, the series of rocking arms carrying each a contact electrically connected with the conductor, a series of vertically movable plates in the road bed, electrically connected .with the stationary contacts in the casing, the

rocking levers having one end arranged to be depressed by the car, and connections from said levers for simultaneously raising the plates and rocking the arms within the casing to connect the plates with the conductor substantially as described.

2. In combination the casing containing the series of stationary contacts, the conductor therein, the levers b arranged to be rocked by the car, the supplemental levers pivoted to the levers b and carrying contact plates, electrical connections from said plates to the stationary contacts, switches within the casing having arms extending outside the casing, and the link connections from said arms to the levers b substantially as described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence ot' two subscribing Wtinesses.

PAUL LUCAS.

Vitnesses:

- W. HAUPT,

JOHN MATTEs, Jr. 

